Steering wheel



Ma 5, 1925. r

A. H. LEIPERT.

STEERING WHEEL Filed Dec. s, 1923 Patented May 5, 1925.

1,536,227 PATENT OFFICE."

AUGUST H. LEI PERT, Q]? NEW YORK. N. Y., ASSIGNOR T INTERNATIONAL MOTOR COIPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y..

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

STEERING WHEEL.

Application filed becember a, 19.23. Serial No. 679,287.

To all whom. it zlwy concern:

Be it known that I, Aucusr H. LEHEHT, a citizen of the United States, residing in College Point, the borough of Queens of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful 'Improvements in Steering Wheels, of which Y the following is a specification, reference be- Inghad to the accompanying drawing, formmg a part hereof.

The automobile art has long recognized "the fatiguing effect of vibrations transmitted through the steering wheel to the hands of the driver of a motor vehicle and X5 many attempts have been made to absorb these vibrations and yet provide an annulus or rim which would both satisfy manufacturing requirements and meet the strains of every day use. For instance, in U. S.

latents Nos. 702,381 and 1,262,19t pneumatic steering wheels are proposed. Such wheels are not practical and do not serve the primary purpose of relieving v fatigue;

From a manufacturingi standpoint they are very expensive and di cult-to make and in use they have a tendency to distortion and puncture or derangement of the valve. But above all other considerations they require inflation for practical service to a point where they are very rigid and do not relieve the hands of the driver from the vibrations transmitted thereto.- In Patent No. 1,361,272 it is proposed to overcome the objections to pneumatic wheels by providing a flexible core on which the rubber might be molded. This type of wheel while satisfying many conditionsdoes not ofl'er the degree of compressibility and pliability which are highly desirable if the greatest relief to the hands is to be afforded through the use of rubber. Such rims have the further objection that they are very cold to the liltlntlS. In Patent No. 1,430,732 there is disclosed a construction providing for compre'ssibility and flexibility in the rim of a steering wheel but the patented construction permits such compressibility an'dflexibility ,:'as to approach distortion andis of such a .complicated nature as to be impracticable W from the considerations of manufacture and use. In the patent it is proposed to provide the rim with a rigid core and compressibility and flexibility are afforded through the provision of a coil spring surrounding the rigid core and having an envelope of fabric development of the art and provide a stecrture ren "her during molding and lemfi itself readily to the formation of a joint between the two which is encased in rubber to form the hand grip.

in accordance with the present invention it is proposed to go a step further in the ing wheel which shall be simple and inexpensive to manufacture, durable in. use, and compressible and pliable to the highest possible degree consistent with transmission of the steering stresses to the spider. Accordiugly the annulus is formedby embedding, as a core in a mass of rubber, a length of flexible metallic tubing which may be similar to that found in the helicall wound metal hose commonly used as a con nit for electric wiring. Such tubing is particularly suitable as the'core of a steering rim since it provides the desired de vree of compressi-- bility and flexibility an at-the same time gives suflicientstrength to the rim to efi'ec- '75 tively transmit driving. stresses to, the spider. It is also readilyobtainable at a low cost which is a factor in large scale commercial production. Furthermore its strucers the core impervious to the rubit) ends of a length of tubing in the manufacture of the rim. The completed rim-in use has beenfound to have proper insulating I propertiesiand conform pleasantlywo thegrasp gnd'not to offer the Cold unyielding grip to be found in rims which arevnece'ssarily of a more rigid construction.

One suitable embodiment ofthe inven- O0 tiou, as stated above, is illustrated in the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a view in plan and partly in section showing the improvedrim mounted on the spider of a steering wheel.

Figure '2 is a view in transverse section through the rim. In the particular example illustrated the steering wheel embodies the usual spider a formed with the hub a to receive and be fixed to the steering post and radial arms (1 to which-the rim or annulus indicated in general at b is attached; The rim b is made up of a yielding andflexible hollow metallic core Z) directly attached to thdarnis a" of the spider and'encased or embedded in a mass of rubber b molded to the desired shape. It has been found that the flexible metallic hose, such as is used for conduits for electric wiring and the like, is partzcua construction larly applicable as the core of a steering rim. Such hose is generally formedof a metal ribbon wound in helical form; Its rmits the requisite degree of pliability an at the'same time aflordssuflicientstrength and rigidity to permitits attachmcntto the arms of thespider. It is readily bent to shape and 'its construction facilitates the connection of the proximate ends to form a closedcircle.

, ing the steering rim a length of flexible hose slightly longer than the circumference of the axis of the rim is bent in the'form of a circle with the free ends telescoped. One of the ends as at b is drawn out and twisted somewhat more tightly so that its diameter is slightl mate end as at b is untwisted somewhat so thatthe internal diameter of the "core is slightly larger than normal and sufiicient to receive the extended end I The end I) is then inserted in the-end b: The two ends will tend to resume their normal size dueto the natnral elasticity of the metallic ribbon and the'end I) contracting about the end If (whiehhas a tendency to expand) will form a'joint secure enough forthe purless than normal and the proxi-- In constructtrated as the core since it will be obviousthat other means of attaining the same result will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and no limitation is intended except asind-icated in the appended claims. What I claim is:

1. In a rim for steering'wheels, an annular flexible core formed of a length of hclically wound metallic hose and a mass of vulrubber. in which the core is embedded and pose in hand. The annulus thus fo med is V secured to the. arms a as-b rivets 11 for instance. I

It willthus be seen thatanextremely simple rim has been-provided which will be compressible and flexible to the desired degree without any-tendency toward dis'ortion and which at the same'time is extremely simple of manufacture and inexpensive. The invention is not to be limited to the precise mannenof manufacture described spider.

4. A method of'm'aking an annulus for steering wheels comprising reducing the diameter of one end of a len th of flexible metalliehose and increasing t 1e interior diameter of the other end thereof, bending said length of hose in the form of a circle and means to securethe core tothe arms ofthc .forming the joint between the ends by inscrting the reduced end-in the end of increased diameter, securing the core thus formed to the arms of the spider and embedding said core in a mass of yielding non-me: tallic material molded to shape.

This specification signed-,this 4th day of December, A. D. 1923. nor to the particular instrumentality illus- AUGUST H. LEIPERT. 

